Michael John Saiger

University of York

Michael is a designer and researcher who is investigating how we engage young people in the design and development of mental health games. Michael’s interests reach into player experiences, evaluating engagement, and player retention. He also works as an independent QA consultant, working across both games and web development on projects associated with Mattel, BBC and Drinkaware etc. Michael graduated with a MPhil in Digital Health and Wellbeing from the University of Strathclyde and a BA (Hons) Game Design and Production Management from the Abertay University.

A description of Michael's research:

User involvement methods, such as co-design, is seen as beneficial. It involves stakeholders in the design, implementation, and evaluation of a product. It has also been used in applied games design, also for young people, but both pose different challenges than the default user involvement for functional software with adults. Because of these differences, there is little guidance on how to successfully deliver user involvement methods with young people in applied games design. Therefore, the goal of Michael's research is to investigate how these methods engage young people during design processes. In addition, what tools and techniques are best suited for young people, how do various roles of young people impact engagement, and how do we evaluate engagement during these processes.